Holder for electrically operated toothbrushes and the like



July 14, 1953 G. B. UBEL 2,644,972

HOLDER FOR ELECTRICALLY-OPERATED TOOTHBRUSHES AND THE LIKE Filed May 13, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 $90, 83 0285, Inivz kr Warm TOOTI-IBRUS-IES AND THE LIKE 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Piledllay 13, 1948' i5 17' @ea Patented July 14, 1953 OFFICE HOLDER FOR ELECTRICALLY OPERATED TOOTHBRUSHES AND THE LIKE George B. Ubel, Buflalo, N. Y. Application May 13, 1948, Serial No. 26,816 I 6 Claims. (01. -22) This invention relates to a holder for electrically operated tooth-brushes, nail-files, nail-polishers, and the like.

Its primary object is to provide a holder for tooth-brushes and other toilet articles usually dependent upon reciprocating movement when in action and which embodies means for firmly holding the tooth-brush or similar object in a manner to permit the same to be directed to any region of the tooth structure in the same manner as the conventional tooth-brush is operated manually, or around the edges of finger nailswhen a nail file is used, or over the surfaces of the finger nails when a polisheris used.

Another object ofmy invention is to providea holder so designed and constructed'that tooth-- brushes, nail-files, or polishers can be easily and quickly interchanged, and when using a nail-file an adapter utilized for connection to the-holder in a manner similar to theconnection made by means of the handle of a conventional toothbrush. I I

A further object of my invention is to provide a holder of the kind -mentioned which encloses any suitable electric motor, a novel attaching means for a tooth-brush or the likefand motordriven means between the motor and said attaching means whereby the rotary motion of the motor is converted into: reciprocating motion'for said attaching means, sometimes hereinafter referred to as a holding member.

A still further object is to provide a simple and inexpensive device for the purpose 1 mentioned which will enable a tooth-brush or the like to be easily attached thereto and as readily removed therefrom and when using a tooth-brush so that the brush can be conveniently cleaned; and to provide. means for preventing fluid from-= the brush-head of the tooth-brush reaching theactiiating mechanism of the device-or the attached end of the tooth-brush handle.-

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists in the novel construction, and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the subjoined claims.

In the drawings, 7

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my improved holder,

illustrate parts of the mechanism within the same.

Figwlis a side elevation of the device, showing the shield or cover elevated to illustrate parts normally covered thereby.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal section taken on line 55, Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrow crossing said line. 1

Fig. 6 is a transverse section taken on line 6-6, Fig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrow crossing said line. I

Fig. 7 is a transverse section taken on line 1-1, Fig. 5,10oking in the direction of the arrowcrossing said line.

Fig.8 is a transverse section taken on line 8 8; Fig. 5, looking in the direction of the arrow crossing said line.

Fig. 9 is a transverse section taken on line 99, Fig. 5.

Fig. l0 is a transverse section taken on line Ill-l0, Fig. 5.

Fig. 11 is a detached perspective view of the spring retainer member.

Fig. 12 is a detached perspective view of a nailpolisher designed for use with my invention, the handle of the same being broken away to indicate additional length.

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of an .adapter de-. signed to clamp a strip of emery paper or the like, serving as a nail-file.

Fig. 14 is an enlarged longitudinal section taken centrally throughthe adapter illustrated in Fig. 13, the handle of the adapter being broken away to indicate additional length.

While my invention is primarily designed as a holder fora tooth-brush to be actuated under reciprocating movement, it will be apparent from thedrawings hereof that other toilet articles, or servicing elements as they may be termed, may be substitutedfor atooth-brush when such articles are equipped with handles similar to, those of tooth-brushes, or are used in connection with adapters which include handles of such type.

The reference numeral I5 designates the holder, considered as a Whole, which includes a hollow structure or casing l6 conformed to conveniently fit the hand, said holder having a brush or article supporting element 11 extending a distance outwardly from one end thereof.

The hollow structure or casing [6 serves as a handle or grip element for the holderand it is preferably made of plastic material, although any other suitable material may be employed for the same. i

The brush or article-supporting member [1, which is inthe form of an'arm, is secured to the hollowstructure or casing in any suitable manner, so long as a rigid and unyielding con nection is provided between the two. v

Within the casing or handle I6 any suitable electric motor, such as shown at l8 (Fig. 3), is arranged and current it supplied thereto by means of lead-in and return wires within a current-conducting cord IS, the current passed therethrough being controlled by any means, such as a switch, the handle 20 of which is shown projecting outwardly from the inner end of the casing or handle I6 (see Fig. 1).

In the drawings I have shown a disk 2| provided with an actuator-pin 22 arranged off center and projecting upwardly therefrom, said disk being rotated by the motor l8 through the medium of gears 2324, or in any other suitable manner, all movable parts of the mechanism between said actuator-pin 22 and the motor being suitably journaled. The actuator pin 22 extends upwardly through an opening 25 in the article supporting member I! and it has at its upper end a roller 26 for a purpose to appear hereinafter.

On the article supporting element I! a reciprocating article or brush holding member 21 is mounted which is preferably in the form of'a bar fitting into a guide groove 28- formed lengthwise in the supporting member H, the sidewalls of said groove being undercut or dovetailed as best shown in Figs. 7 and 8, and the lower portions of the opposite side or edge walls of said brush holding member being flared downwardly to fit the undercut or dovetailed walls of said groove and thus assuresliding retention of the brush holding member 21 to the. supporting member At the outer end of the brushholding member 21, a loop-like upward extension or housing 29. is formed, it having an opening 30 therethrough into which is fitted a rubber or other compressible or yielding gripping or sealing element 3|.

Extending upwardly from the brush holding member 21, a distancein rear of the sealing element 3|, is a retainer stud 32 which is enlarged at a medial portion to form an upwardly-facing.

usually adapted for suspending thetooth-brush.

from a hook or the like. When securing the tooth-brush to the holder, the opening 31 in the handle 35 receives the upper portion 01 the retainer stud 32, the upper extremity of which is preferably rounded, as shown in Figs. and'l, and projects upwardly above the upper surface of said handle. When the handle ism-positioned, it rests upon the upwardly-facing shoulder 33 oi!v said retainer stud and is firmly anchored: by said retainer stud and the loop 29.

In order to retainthe handle of.the tooth-- brush against the shoulder 33 and'to prevent wa'bbling movement thereof, a spring retainermember 38 is provided, it being in the form of a resilient elongated strip of material, such as best shown in Fig. 11. widened at one end, as at 39, and provided at said end with depending ears 40 so that a saddlelike terminal is provided which straddles the brush holding member. 21 adjacent the sea-ling;

Said retainer member is element 3|, said ears being securely fastened to opposite sides of the brush holding member 2! by means of screws or otherwise.

The opposite end of this spring retainer-member is provided with a notch 4| to form a forklike terminal, the notch receiving the upwardlyprojecting extremity of the retainer stud 32 while the tines 42 of this fork-like terminal lie at opposite. sides of said extremity; in contact with the upper face of'the handleof the tooth-brush and force the underside of said handle in firm contact with the shoulder 33 on said stud.

It willbeunderstood therefore that the toothbrush-being'passed through the sealing element 3| and being firmly attached at its inner end to the-holding'member, is capable of movement only in the-directionzof its length and it may here be stated that the sealing element 3|, being constructed of rubber or similar resilient material, impinges against the handle of the tooth-brush peripherally,- at all points around the same; thus the brush holding member 21, so termed because it holds the handle of the tooth-brush to the. supporting member I! so as to move therewith, is provided at itsiinnerend witha widened portion 43: (see Fig. 3) having a transversely-disposedslot therein into. which the actuator-pin 22, and more particularly; the roller 26 on said pin projects, the-roller- 26z-on' said pin rotating while in contact with the-elongated transverselydisposed. side walls- -of said slotto. diminish the friction which would otherwise be created at this point.

It will be apparent, therefore, that when the disk 21 is rotated, the actuator-pin 22 which projectseccentrically; from saiddisk travels througha circular path and thus moves the brush-holdingelement 21 outwardly'and inwardly under reciprocatingmovement, causingthe tooth-brush to havea:reciprocating motion imparted. thereto,- under speed found most. desirable, so that the bristles 45 of the brush move in contact with the teeth-orthe gums of the. person controlling the manipulation of the device. It is, 01' course, understood thatthe mechanism for transferring motion fromthemotor'shaft to the brush holding member 21, mayv besvaried, depending on the speed with which the tooth-brush is to be reciprocated,,and" any mechanism capable of converting rotary motion into reciprocating motion may be employed between the brush holding member and the motor. The. brush holding member: 21 and partsycarriedthereby.may, under the.

terms offthe claims. hereof. be considered the attaching means for the.tooth-brush.

It: is. also my purpose to provide means for enclosing parts of. theattaching means and a portionofithetooth-brush handle extending inwardlyfrom'the sealingelement 3| and for. this purpose I provide anelongated cover or shield 48 which is of substantially u-formation in cross sectionso as to. provide a-top wall, and spacedapart sidewalls.whichldependfrom said top wall at opposite-sidesofJthe anchored portion of the handleof-the tooth brush. Said cover or shield is of a length onlyslightly'shorter than the brush holding member 21. The innerend of this cover or shield is. pivotally secured to opposite ends of thewidened portion 43 at the inner endof the reciprocable brush holding-membe 21. For this purpose" ears 4-1 extend upwardly from said widened .portionto enab1e-pivots 48 to. be passed therethroughand through thezsidesof. the cover at. their inner ends; These pivots are. tightened ,in the side walls of the shield 43 and in the ears ll extending upwardly from the widened portion 43 at the inner end of the brush member 21so that the shield will be retained in closed position by the friction between such parts, orit may be 1 otherwise retained in such position.

The casing or handle [6 of the device will be of a shape to permit its being easily and conveniently gripped by the user and toenable the toothbrush to be given a rotary or oscillating manual movement, such movement being used preferably without utilizing the reciprocating'movement for The current-conducting cord [9 will be' of con siderable length so that it can be easily plugged into any conventional socket conveniently at hand and it is simply necessary to position the brush at the region of the tooth structure within the mouth without movement of the device under manual eiTort, since when the switch provided within the casing or handle of-the device is actuated to lead current to the motor, the brush will reciprocate in a direction transversely of the teeth, the device being moved only so that the brush will successively operate against different regions of the tooth structure until the entire tooth structure is thoroughly cleaned.

If, however, the cleansing operation is to include movement of the brush-head of the toothbrush in the dire-ction'of the length of the teeth, the entire device may be used, after shutting ofi the current, in the same manner as when gripping the handle of a conventional tooth-brush. For example, when oscillating the device manually, the bristles of the brush will be moved in the direction of the length of the teeth and will enter the spaces between the teeth more eifectively than under motion crosswise of the teeth and consequently under both reciprocating and oscillating movement, a thorough cleansing of the teeth is assured.

The sealing element 3|, in addition to serving as a supplemental retainer for the handle of the tooth-brush, also serves to prevent fiuid'which may pass along the outwardly-projecting portion of the tooth-brush handle from reaching that portion of the handle extending from the sealing element to the retainer stud 32. In this manner the moving parts of the device are kept in dry condition, thereby preventing rust and undue friction between the moving parts of the device.

While this invention is particularly designed for use as a tooth-brush holder, it may as hereinbefore stated, be utilized for holding and manipulating nail-polishers, such as shown in Fig. 12, and nail-files, such as shown in Figs. 13 and 14, since all of such articles are toilet articles or servicing elements and are so basically referred to in some or" the subjoined claims, the brushheads of tooth-brushes, the padded heads of nailpolishers, and the nail-files may therefore be termed servicing portions of such articles or elements. The nail-polisher shown in Fig. 12 is designated by the numeral 5|, it being of the conventional type and having a polisher or bufferhead 52 and an elongated handle 53 provided with an opening 54 which is designed to receive the stud 32 of the holding member ,2] in the 1 same manner as the opening 31in the handle of the tooth-brush 34.

An adapter55 may also be utilized forholding or clamping the usual sand-paper strip used as a nail-file, the strip or file being designatedby the numeral 56. This adapter comprises, an elon' gated member 51 fashioned to provide a handle 58 with'an opening 59 at one end and an integral clamping jaw'BU at its other end. A movable clamping jaw 6| is pivotally secured-to the jaw 60 near its inner end, and between the jaws 60 and BI the strip of sand-paper or other filing material is clamped; s

The movable jaw 6| has an inwardly extended lug64 through which a screw 65 is passed, which screw, when tightened, causes the outer end of the movable jaw to be clamped against the strip 56 and hold the same securely in the adapter.

The opening 59in the handle 58 is to receive the stud 32 of my improved holder so that the adapter is retained on the holding member 21 of said holder in the same manner as thetoothbrush 34. I

Having thus described my invention what -I claim is: I

1. An electrically-operated toilet-article holder; comprising a casing formed to fit the hand so as to serve as a grip element and having a supporting-arm extending outwardly from one end of said casing and provided with a groove extending along the upper face thereof, an article-holding member slidably mounted in said groove and adapted for reciprocating movement therein, said holding member having a loop-like housing at its outer end, a resilient sealing member fitted in said loop-like housing and having an opening therein, a toilet article having a handle passed through the opening of said resilientv sealing member while compressing the latter to assure a 1 snug fit therewith and having a servicing portion at its outer end, said handle extending inwardly and outwardly from said resilient sealing member and having its inner end attachedto said holding member, and lectricallyeoperated means within said casing having operative connection with said holding member to cause the latter and the toilet casing and provided with a groove extending along the upper face thereof, an article-holding member slidably mounted in said groove and adapted for reciprocating movement therein, said v article-holding member having a loop-like, housing at its outer end and a retainer stud rising therefrom near its inner end, a resilient sealing member fitted in said loop-like housing and having an opening therein, a toilet-article having a handle passed through the opening of said resilient sealing member while compressing the latter to assure a snug fit therewith and projecting outwardly and inwardly a distance from said resilient sealing member, said handle having an opening at its inner end to receive said retainer stud and a servicing portion at its outer end, and electrically-operated means within said casing having operative connection with said article-holding member to cause the latter and the toilet-article carried thereby to be reciprocated.

3. An electrically-operated tooth-brush holder, comprising a casing formed to fit the hand so as to serve as a grip element and having a supportauge /a:

ingarm extending outwardly from one end'there-- of and provided-with a dovetail groove extendin along the upper face thereof, a tOOthrblllSh holding member having downwardly-flaring. side 'portions: fitting the dovetailed side walls of said groove. and adapted for reciprocating movement therein, said tooth-brushholding member having aloop'elike upward extension at its'outer end, a resilienttsealing member fitted into said loop-like upwardrextension andhaving an opening therethrough parallel with said supporting arm, a tooth-brushhaving, a. handle passed through the opening of 'said resilient member and extending outwardly and inwardly a distance from the latter, said tooth-brush having a servicing portion at its outerend and an opening at its inner end, a retainer stud projecting upwardly from said tooth-brush holdingmember and extending into said last-mentioned opening, said. retainer stud having, an upwardly-facing shoulder, a spring retainer secured to said tooth-brush holding member and bearing against the inner end of said handle tomaintain the latter on said retainer stud, and electrically-operated means within said casingoperatively connected with the inner end of said tooth-brush holding member to cause the latter and the tooth-brush carried thereby to be reciprocated.

4. An electrically-operated toilet-article holder, comprising a casing having a supporting arm extending outwardly therefrom and provided with a dovetailed guide groove extending along the upper face thereof, an article-holding member having a. portion fitting said dovetailed guide groove and adapted for reciprocating movement therein, said article-holding member having a loop-like upward extension at its outer end, a toilet-article having a handle passed through said loop-like upward extension extending outwardly and inwardly a distance from the latter, said toiletarticle having a servicing portion at its outer end and an opening at its inner end, a retainer stud projecting upwardly from said article-holding member and extending into said opening, an elongated spring retainer secured to said articleholding member adjacent said loop-like upward extension and extending inwardly therefrom to said retainer stud, said elongated spring retainer tending therefrom and provided with a guide groove extending along the upper face thereof, an

article-holding member. having a loop-like upward. extension at its outer endand being fitted into said-guide groove for reciprocating movement therein,.axtoilet-artic1e having a handle fastened to said article-holding member, a U-shaped shield pivotally; secured. to said article-holding member at itseinnerend, said'shield .being of substantially U-formation and adapted to straddle the inner end-ofthe-handle-of said toilet-article, and electrically-operated means within said casing connected ,to-said article-holding member to cause thelatter and the toilet-article carried thereby to. be reciprocated.

6. An electrically-operated toilet-article holder, comprising,alcasing having a supporting arm extending outwardly therefrom, an article-holding member slidablymounted for reciprocating movement on said supporting arm and having an upwardly-projecting: stud near its inner end and an opening at its. outer end provided with yieldin walls, a toilet-article having a handle passed through saidopening in contact with said yielding walls and having a hole at its inner end receiving: saidstud, said stud having an enlargement against-which the inner end of said handle downwardly bears, a spring retainer in the form of a resilient elongated strip widened at one end and provided with depending ears at said end lyingagainst opposite sides of said article-holdingmember adjacent the opening therein and extending inwardly therefrom so as to terminate adjacent'said upstanding stud to hold said handle against the enlargement thereof, a shield pivotally secured at its inner end to said article-holding memberv and extending forwardly therefrom, said shield being of substantially U-formation in cross section toprovide a top and spaced-apart depending sides disposed at opposite sides of said article-holdingmember so as to enclose the inner end of said spring retainer and the inner end of said handle, and electrically-operated means Within said casing, operatively connected with the inner endof said article-holding member to causethe latter, the said shield andethe toiletarticlecarried by saidlarticle-holding member to be. reciprocated.

GEORGE B. UBEL.

References Cited' in the file of this patent UNITED STATES. PATENTS Number Name Date 1,831,327- Surdock Nov. 10, 1931 2,112,658 Rathbun Mar. 29, 1938 2,187,077 Erickson Jan. 16, 1940 2,239,870 A-riza Apr. 29, 1941 2,307,431 Tilden Jan. 5, 1943 2,319,205' Buck May 18, 1943 

